WATERFALLS AND MOUNTAINS

Australia is not famous for very majestic mountains. So one wouldn't expect this country to have many large plunging waterfalls. But Australia does have its fair share of majestic waterfalls.

High rainfall in winter and spring generates spectacular waterfalls, while in summer some falls are reduced to a mere trickle over rocky walls.

Tin Mine Falls is unofficially the highest waterfall in Australia, height roughly 1,381-feet. It is located in a remote part of Kosciuszko National Park in southern New South Wales.

Wallaman Falls, west of Ingham in Queensland, has a height of 305 metres. Here, water from the Stony Creek plunges down numerous ledges.

Wollomombi Falls, in New South Wales, has a height of 220 metres and includes a single drop of 100 metres. It's sometimes quoted as Australia's tallest waterfall — but this is true if measurement starts where the water does not truly fall, but instead flows against the rock due to the gentler gradient.

Ellenborough Falls just north of Taree in New South Wales is regarded as Australia's tallest single-drop (160 metres) waterfall.

Murray Falls, located in Queensland is one of the highest falls in Queensland.

Kanangra Falls, located in the Kanangra0Boyd National Park. The total water fall height is reported as being 225 meters.

Victoria has many spectacular waterfalls — from the popular MacKenzie Falls in Grampians National Park to the more remote Raymond Falls in Snowy River National Park.

Hopkins Falls, near Warrnambool, and Trentham Falls, near Daylesford are both impressive waterfalls in Victoria region.

The Millaa Millaa Falls is on the Atherton Tableland, Queensland. A popular destination of international tour operators, the falls are of a significant height with a pool suitable for swimming is at their base.

Mountains:

Australia lacks mountains of great height; it is one of the world’s flattest landmasses. The average elevation is about 300 m (about 1,000 ft).

The highest mountains on the Australian mainland are in an area known as the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, part of the Great Dividing Range. Straddling the Great Dividing Range, it includes Mt Kosciuszko and numerous towering peaks exceeding 2000m, precipitous slopes, plunging gullies, glacial lakes and valleys.

It is a surprising fact that the highest point on Australian territory is actually Mawson's Peak. Located on Heard Island, Mawson's Peak is 2745 metres high and forms the summit of an active volcano called Big Ben.

Mainland Australia’s ten highest mountains:

Height (M)

Mount Kosciuszko

2228

Mount Townsend

2209

Mount Twynam

2195

Rams Head

2190

Unnamed peak on Etheridge Ridge

2180

Rams Head North

2177

Alice Rawson Peak

2160

Unnamed peak south-west of Abbott Peak

2159

Abbott Peak and Carruthers Peak

2145

Mt Northcote

2131

(Source: Geoscience Australia National Geodetic database, 1993)

The Great Dividing Range, averages about 1,200 m in height and stretches along the eastern coast from Cape York in the north to Victoria in the southeast. Subdivisions of the range bear many local names, including, the New England Plateau, Blue Mountains and Australian Alps; in Victoria, where the range extends westward, it is known as the Grampian Mountains, The Victorian Alps contain Victoria's highest mountain, Mt Bogong. Other notable peaks including Mt Hotham, Mt Buffalo, Mt Cope, and Mt Baw Baw.

The interior of Australia is relatively flat except for several eroded mountain chains, such as the Stuart range and the Musgrave ranges in the northern part of South Australia and the Macdonnell Ranges in the southern part of the Northern Territory.